Machine for sewing looped fabrics



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. H. MUSGROVE. MACHINE FOR SEWING LOOPBD FABRICS.

Patented May 4,1897.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet; 2.

J. H. MUSGROVE. MAGHINB PGR SEWING LOOPBD FABRICS. No. 581.358,

Patented May 4,1897.

JOHN H. MUSGROVE, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

ll/lCl-llN E FR SEWING LOOPED FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581,758, dated May 4, 1897. Application tiled February 1,1896. Serial No. 577,670. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it '1n/(zig coincer/t:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. MUSGROVE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsfield, county of Berkshire, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Sewing Looped Fabrics, oi' which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to such improvements; and it consists of the novel construetion and combination of parts hereinafter described and subsequently claimed.

Reference may be had to the accom panyin g drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several figures therein.

Figure l of the. drawings is a top plan view of my improved machine with a portion of the fabric-supporting pin-plate broken away. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, showing one pin and a small portion of the 'plate in vertical section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section, taken on the broken line 3 3 in Fig. 2, of the looper-lever and lever-actuating mechanism. Fig. iis a vertical section, taken on the broken line et 4 in Fig. l, on an enlarged scale. Figs. 5, G, 7, 8, and 9 are top plan views of the looper and sewing-needle provided with threads, showing some of the different positions assumed by such parts in sewing looped fabrics. Fig. l0 is a cross-section of the needle, taken on the broken line 10 l0 in Fig. 5. Fig. l1 is a cross-section of the looper, taken at the line 12 l2 in Fig. 7.

The object of my invention is to unite the edges of two pieces oi' knit fabric by a series of two thread double loop through andthrough stitches, which will produce an elastic and durable scam.

My invention consists ot the novel looper mechanism hereinafter described and subsequently claimed.

A is the base-plate, provided with bolt-holes A', by means of which the plate can be bolted to some fixed support.

The uprights A2 and Ai, integral with the base-plate, contain the bearings for the driving-shaft Ai, rotary therein. Secured tothe upper side of the upright A3 by bolts A5 is the bracket A, which supports the rotary pin plate or ring A7 and its operating mechanism in the usual manner. The upright A3 is also provided with a horizontally-projecting stud A8, which supports the needle-lever B, oscillatory thereon. The needle-lever is provided with a cam-follower B, fitting the cam-groove B2 in the cam B3, fixed eccentrically upon the drive-shaft.

The lower oscillatory end of the lever is provided with a curved needle B4, adapted to move to and from the pins on the pin-plate as they are brought successively into line with it in the usual well-known manner by an intermittent rotary movement of the pinplate, which intermittent movement may be imparted by hand or by the usual mechanism, of which I have shown the actuating-cam A9, fixed on the driving-shaft, and the connecting-link A19, provided with a dog or pawl A12, engageable with the ratchet-wheel A13.

The remaining parts being well known are not shown.

The oscillatory movements of the needle are adapted to thrust the needle through the loops of fabric B impaled on the pins, and carry the needle-thread BT through the loops in the usual manner.

A is a drivin g-pulley fixed upon the driving-shaft.

C is the looper, having a thread-aperture C at or near its end and a second thread-aperture C2 a short distance from the end aperture. The shank C5 oi the looper is supported by the apertured lever C, and may be secured at any desired angle or degree of inclination therein by the set-screw C7. The other end of the looper-supporting lever is connected with an adjustable support by a universal joint.

The universal joint comprises the block D, which is supported by the conical bearingpoints D'1 and D5, which form a horizontal axis upon which the block is free to rock.

The lever is provided with a pair of ears D3, one above the other, and the block with recessed bearings adapted to receive the conical bearing-points D and D2, which are respectively tapped into the lever-ears and provided with lock-nuts D in the usual Wellknown manner. The bearing-points D and IOO D2 are located in the same vertical plane and, together with the block D and the bearingpoints D4 and D5, similar in construction to the points D' and D2, form the universal joint.

It is very important, as will be seen hereinafter, to secure an exact adjustment of the looper relatively to the sewing-needle, and While the looper is made capable of a partial adjustment relatively to the looper-lever by means of the set-screw C7 it is not well adapted for nice adjustment and if relied upon alone Would require many experiments and become a slow, uncertain, and inconvenient means. I therefore make the supporting-fulcrum of the lever adjustable both horizon tally and vertically by screw-threaded mechanism, whereby a very fine and exact adj ustment may be quickly obtained.

The horizontal adjustment of the supporting-fulcrum is obtained by means of the bearing-points D4 and D5, the positions of Which can be easily varied in a horizontal direction relatively to the lever by advancingv one and backing the other. These bearingpoints are tapped into the ears DT and DS, integral With the yoke D, which is movable vertically upon the bracket F, rigidly secured to the main frame of the machine, as by the bolt F. The bracket is provided with a vertical slot F2, adapted to receive the bolt F3, which is vertically movable therein, and passed through an aperture in the verticallymovable yoke. The head F4 of the bolt bears upon the yoke, and a nut F5 is adapted to bear upon the bracket and clamp the yoke thereto.

As a means for steadily and accurately moving the yoke vertically upon the bracket When the parts are not tightly clamped together I provide a thumb-screwr FG, which passes through a screw-threaded aperture in the bolt F3 and is provided with the collars FT and F8, adapted to engage the guides F9 on the bracket. By turning the thu nib-screw in one direction the bolt, yoke, and fulcrum-support are moved vertically upward, and when the screw is turned in the opposite direction such parts are moved vertically downward. This form of construction enables me to secure in a convenient manner an accurate universal adjustment of the f ulcrum-support, which produces a corresponding` adjustment of the looper for the reason that the looperlever is actuated in a horizontal or vertical direction by means of cams Which are located intermediately of the fulcrum and looper, as will be apparent hereinafter. This is of much importance for the additional reason that the fulcrum end of the lever is more accessible for the purposes of adjustment than the looper end.

The looper end is surrounded by other important mechanisms and not as accessible.

An approximate adjustment can first be obtained by approximately apportioning the length of the vertical looper-shank and by means of the set-screw O7, after which an eX- act adjustment can be procured and maintained bythe adjustment of the fulcrum-support, as before explained.

The looper-lever is connected with an elevated fixed support consisting' of the Wire E by means of the coil-spring FX, which draws the lever up against the lower peripheral edge of the cam Il?, fixed upon the'drive-shaft. The periphery of this cam is so shaped as to cause, in connection with the spring, the desired vertical movements to be imparted to the looper-lever and looper, and the inner side surface of this cam is so shaped as to cause, in connection with the spring and a lug on the looper-lever adapted to bear upon suchsurface, as shown in Fig. 3, the desired horizontal movements to be imparted 'to the looper-lever and looper.

In my improved machine I make use of a horizontal looper for the reason that the construction of the pin-plate now in use and for which my improved mechanism is adapted is such that the pins are raised only a short distance above the inclosed bed S, and a vertical looper cannot be given sufficient movement to produce such anv elastic seam as is desirable.

By employing a horizontal looper I can 0btain the desired relative movement of the looper transversely of the sewing-needle to obtain the requisite feed ,of the looper-thread to secure elastic stitches.

The operation of the stitch-forming mechanism, starting from the position shown in Fig. 5, Whereat the needle has taken a loop from the looper and commenced to retreat, having been forced through the fabric over one of the pins in the pin-plate past the looper, is as follows: As the needle retreats the thread curves outward from the needle and the point of the looper enters between the thread and needle and advances across-the needle to the position shown in Fig. 6. As the needle retreats to the outer side of the fabric Il it leaves a loop Il' upon the looper, as seen in Fig. 7. As the needle again advances through the fabric it passes under the looper-thread H2, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 7, whereupon the looper retreats from the needle, as indicated in Fig. S, until the loop II slips off the looper upon the looper-thread, as seen in Fig. 9, thelooper-thread being passed around the needle. rlhen as the needle retreats thc looper advances to the position shown in Fig. 5 to secure from the needle another loop Il', as before explained, and the operation is repeated for each stitch.

The formation of the double-thread stitch is shown at Fig. 9, the position of the fabric being indicated by dotted lines and the stitches left loose and exaggerated in form for the purpose of illustration of the various positions relatively assumed by the needle and looper threads. This form of construction enables me to force the looper across the needle, as shown in Fig. 7, a sufiicieut distance to leave the interlocked loops forming the seam loose,

IOO

IIO

thereby producing` a seam which is as elastic in the direction of its length as is the knitted or looped fabric.

To insure the successful operation of the mechanism in the manner shown and described, it is essential that the needle be provided with a plane beveled surface J, inclined to the axis of the eye of the needle to insure the uniform entrance of the looper point above the needle and beneath the needlethread, as seen at Fig. 5. For a similar reason the back or inner side Jgof the looper is made thicker and higher than the front edge, so that the loop H/ will slip freely from the looper over the looper-thread and to facilitate the entrance of the needle between the looper and the looper-ihread as the needle passes to the position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 7. The back of the looper is also rounded at its end to facilitate the slipping of loop II therefrom in passing from the position shown in Fig. S to that shown in Fig. 9.

lVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In the stitch-forming mechanism of a machine for sewing looped fabrics, and in combination: a looper, looper-supporting lever movable upon both a 'fixed horizontal and a vertical axis, means for adjustably changing the elevation of the horizontal axis; means for adjustably changing the position of the vertical axis horizontally and transversely of the looper-lever, and means for operating the lever, substantially as described.

2. In the stitch-forming mechanism of a machine for sewing looped fabrics, and in combination: a looper, looper-lever, leveroperating mechanism; a bracket secured to the frame of the machine; a yoke movable on the bracket; a 'yoke actuating and controlling screw; a universal-joint connection between the lever and yoke; and adjustable screw-bearings between the several members of the universal joint, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of January, 1896.

JOHN Il. MUSGROVE.

Witnesses:

CHAs. M. MUsGRovE, WM. A. MUseRovE. 

